The Portrait Lighting Challenge: Natural vs Studio

Shoot: Studio Light Nude Maisie & LaQuan

The Portrait Lighting Challenge: Natural vs Studio

Lesson 11 of 29

Shoot: Studio Light Nude Maisie & LaQuan

Lesson Info

Shoot: Studio Light Nude Maisie & LaQuan

we're going to do then is we have to make space or waken drop this down a little bit and I could just block it off like so put this about yea high and kind of yes so the b flat that okay we're going to use the one she lay on yeah I'm gonna do that I'll drop it down you'll see that okay said the one thing that I did do in the last segment was talking too much about posing I was doing two things posing in lighting is I put her head up this scene because that's the end that the cameras were all on the side all the way around keep going that's it push back and it ruined my shock that took a hit away from the light it wasn't the shot that I wanted I wanted a shot with their heads in the light so in order to put a hit on the light I have to put her legs embalmed this way so I talked to the camera guys and they're just gonna not shoot up her bum because they're just going to adjust so if I can get the guys to adjust to shoot her not straight back that would be awesome in the way I'm going to ...

do that is to bring this around a little bit more so felix just come around john push around kick coming yeah there you go so she's gonna have her legs to you guys but I actually wanted her head closer to the light source because people should always be lying closer to the light john can you go back this doesn't need teo be here if you can push it all the way back and then can you go backwards a little bit and then I don't have the tune here too far this's studio lighting how to make the space seem small yeah that's yeah and I'm going to block this off here because there's two I just used to apple but so maybe I'm going to get you to lie on your tummy other end okay so it's going to be the opposite into how I shot her in it to life gotta find here all we've done this drop the scrim down about a foot and a half and I dropped the light down a foot and a half and now I'm just sweating bullets because I don't know if it's gonna work can't see so the first thing I say is roll up onto happened bring any fourth stop other knee that's it and then go back down onto tummy yep so no just the knee comes forward so what it does is it just gives that beautiful shape into body see elbow stay down that's it then this hand comes in and elbow goes all the way up good girl perfect and let's just take this so I'm gonna go nice and low remember wherever she is I am right and so if you're from there just have a look up here I'll send you the chiropractic before long so yeah let's have a look up on your left and see what that the light sources there well I haven't seen you in the office because there is no light source right looks nice it's beautiful much brighter on the camera and just get down to the floor a little bit more stuff that's it turn around to me that's its data john can somebody else hold it I have a little white reflector in here just come on in I want the little white reflected just like bouncing down like that it's to see if that little white reflected to her face will just lift up nicely turn around to your shoulder a little bit more uh yeah that's girl stuff just drop it down to the ground just a tickle yeah that's it so I'm gonna join you on the floor because I want to see how that light is kind of ending up down here now remember we're going to do a little cat so this one is like a sleeping post that's yeah that's it bring your hair forward but and I don't want to see a stubby elbow so I need you to include the hand in there so it's actually easier if not I want you like that so it's about bringing that girl to bring you here up with no fuss and of course normally I wouldn't have to get up I would have a make up artist that we'll just do it so you're gonna lie on this hand that's it and then this hand's coming down perfect no going to sleep and you're not going teo um you're not going tio so you're going to sleep with your eyes gonna bring your knee forward your left knee that took down to the ground go go so you're gonna do like a little state and you're not going to squash your face against your hand just a reference okay wait one moment crawling on the floor here yeah I'll see if you can figure out what's going on he shows up have a look that shows up there's a should be a split of light that shouldn't be there which is you see how there's actually two there's two little sluts and that's the little gap that I have left open here and that's why I'm glad I crawled around on the floor to see exactly what's going on so now we're back to that and you know the other things you have done a little bit down lower to the ground that ticket girl soon I'm gonna open this lights up a bit because you had a bit of more of a wider and take your bubble yes because I'll have to finish helping out one second right can I get another apple box just open this up a little bit make a little bit wider see what I'm doing so it's I think you had him why am I here there we go and I'll take let's do another reference shop we still got a little bit so tiny but oh yeah cheeky cheeky light someone's moving these apple boxes after all right take it now and I want it I want to have the final so focusing on a black ball in the dark for really challenging thank you so it's not actually exactly any symbol of that lying down yeah it's not exactly the same but that doesn't really bother me because I think the final results still looks beautiful you can mess around with it okay so here's a question this is a beautiful sort of celebrity shot now I want you I want to take it to film no r so I need to take the highlights down what ideas do you have I'm on two hundred I so one hundred twenty five shell speed at two point eight right so you wanna have less light entering the camera yeah okay so just ten change your s o to one hundred and it will be half assed much light coming in because you can't change your style speed which is what you used to write what I tell my neutral density filter so now okay I'm on the back of the camera that's really beautiful but it's still to live in front of you still to light while you can change your so and you can change your alright so I'm gonna put my eyes narrowed down to one hundred in disco lower that's always the easiest thing I could do it but just look eyes down like let's a go I could run back then turn the light down the actual flash head and do the last man again we've given us with the andy felt that we've actually given us another I actually think it's not something that option intend my indy filter I wanted to have all the options to finish up okay don't don't down so you see how versatile you can actually make this suit you don't need to run around adjust the lights you could do so much in the camera you just need to know that you're like that got it locked in okay right so now we're done yeah we're done way are going to photograph I want tokyo oh yes of course what did we do we put him by yeah we've been probably we did the box yeah yeah it was almost exactly the same it was just the male vision thank you so much right let's just leave him here I think if we get the there it is reference yeah we just had a little bit of a bigger light source so if we have ah b flat that's freed up john if you bring that over here what I'm thinking is on the reference we have it's a light source about yea big but I want to cut out the bottom again because sue had that light coming from above how hot reflector I'm just really driving home that this is so no this is this is fine be flats fine but this is so flexible I'm just going to stay with the same set up it works I get a saw flight out of it what more do I need hang on didn't you just have a little half yeah I'm going to pick the stuff box on because you had the light coming kind of from higher from high so and you can then use these apple boxes for his posing so this is just two blocks off source so much you know if you had your door in the corridor you could just put something in front of it anything it doesn't have to be covered block it off to mimic that window light and so your pose here is that one wei used just take a step back into the shadow and this way a little bit more state anchored in your feet and your hips and then turn your upper body out towards me that's it don't lean too much just that's it perfect so I did go down to one hundred so I'm going to test it I'm getting this in so I need to pull it back it's so wonderful not having a big reflector there looking light and this is always what happens with the studio like we just add things and add things and add things and if you would if I looked at this for five minutes and really took my time I could probably take half of these three flats out but the main thing is to achieve that shape all right so I go up in my eyes so I'm just going to jump it up to two hundred cause I did take it down to one hundred for that low light shot but I can already see that we're getting exactly the same area's being lit up and so now I just need you I might have gone a little bit it's pretty close yeah um so obviously the light source was higher because the window was higher so we can do that yeah yeah and there was less like hitting his torso right so it's coming more from yes from above okay good john me and john are gonna disappear here we're still here andi just put this up about two three feet there we go on dh I'm also going to put the actual light up about three feet and achieve the same thing that it's coming a little bit from up above bouncing off there and that has to feel almost like natural light let's try just you on your first shot you had a little bit more wings and yet no leave your shoulders forward but you just kind of yeah that was put perfect I can in the moment of truth so now I'm getting quite a lot of light hitting his body yeah that's beautiful it's a little bit more but it's actually better and that's pretty close it's actually softer then natural the natural light even wass and then one apple box and that would be your right foot up onto their and remember tuning your torso out just a touch so I could see the light you out this way no you're sorry kick your bum out that way yeah that's perfect and then your chin was up that's it don't move in just nice strong arms john can you put the reflected down just while I focus yeah I need that I like to focus so so let me know if you want to do any tweaks on that at all I'm happy to okay well how about flipped to look I feel like yeah it's pretty good is not so just it's this take that away because it was the torso remember I put the white reflected there not the black because I needed to get is just on the yeah I want to get that side of his body and I feel like that's a really important part okay so all we did then was changed the white reflector from black to white to hit his torso lite someone here yeah and there it iss and that's actually what we did exactly the same with the first one so do you think you could show this to someone and pretend it's naturally I don't need to pretend it's not twelve like it's a rhetorical question that to may I don't I don't I don't need to pretend light I need toe like light and you like it yeah I do like it I want to see it photo shop because I feel like if we can get it that close you know but I just see so much bad lighting and I also say he's lit up shot with these really fake poses and they're perfectly sharpened perfectly exposed and the photographers like nailed it I didn't buddy could with no emotion in this photograph is no beauty in it and you might have technically nailed it but you did not on any any way shape or form make me want to buy it or make me feel anything when I looked at it so I feel like so many people spend all this time lighting staff and they're not taking beautiful images there just like I technically and better than super eyes what yeah you probably are but my only goal is to get him to buy it I just thank you for saying that that's something that's a real passion like that I am really into right now is there a lot of people who focus so much on the technical side of the craft which is very important I want to make sure you don't get me wrong it is very important to be technically well you know knowledgeable but being able to technically get something correct and doing it right is a different story and that's what you guys both bring to this is the ability to not just do it technically well and do it technically at least well enough but also to give an emotion to give it feeling and to give it something that people can really latch onto so it's just this is me on my cell blocks here so thank you very much for saying what the thing is this I didn't ask felix to teach me how to light his way I did not ask him to show me any former fashion lighting or any form of felix lighting I asked him to show me how to create my style with studio lighting and I happen to think that suicidal so beautiful size this is a great idea if I could steal bloody ideas now but my studio lighting is one window one reflector so one strobe and one scrim instead of one window one reflector to me is it just seems like a replacement of what I already have and so I don't feel like I'm out of my comfort zone in any way shape or form I mean if you ask me different styles of fighting that I'm going to be like but you're going to have to watch my facebook page over the net in blogger the next month because clearly I'm going to bring it into all of my shit it's as well as doing natural light don't get me wrong I'm never going to stop cheating that too a lot it's like glamour I wouldn't it if glamour went out of fashion tomorrow I'll find a way to make it fashionable again took me fourteen years to bring it back I'll find a way you know so I'll never get rid of natural light a love herb ritts ode to herb ritts so when I see the supervised castle lighting workshop but you could maybe do it you know what let's do a reference for this yeah for fun and I want to see this is as much for me I get to see this's strap this's and that's if he pulls up the original and yeah it's not the same but it's uh same idea it's good enough for me looks good yeah thank you that's the point I mean it looks good shape yeah why do we need to mess around much more with that right now but I want her to are we done with him yes no I just wanted to show you this one like it's the same lighting source we keep flogging it actually you go that way no one um I'm gonna put this down yeah I wanted to show I'm gonna take all the v flats away and just one more time show how simple it is to ninety actually is so john feel free to just take them all away but we reveal the dark secrets of this because do you feel like you can do this yeah

Class Description

As a photographer, nothing defines your talent more than your ability to capture, create, and place the right lighting. Award-winning portrait photographer Sue Bryce joins studio lighting wunderkind Felix Kunze for a lighting for portrait photography masterclass covering the universally most-used portrait scenarios. You will learn how to work with both natural and studio light — so that you are prepared to walk into any environment and take a gorgeous photograph.

Sue, internationally-renowned for her ability to paint portrait subjects with the glow of natural light, will teach you how she sets up different lighting scenarios. Felix, who's worked with the top photographers on earth, will then take the reins replicating Sue's shot — all using artificial lighting techniques he has honed from experience. The two seasoned photographers will take turns shooting, each learning and asking questions of the other in real time.

By the end of this course, you will know how to shoot a variety of portrait styles, including the classic beauty shot, the silhouette, high-contrast glamour, the soft flat light portrait (master that back light!), and old-school Hollywood glamour — all with both natural light and artificial light.

Aliah Husain

I loved this course! I purchased it as a beginner photographer, unsure of whether to shoot natural or studio light and how to get the best results. After watching the course, I am fully confident in my ability to use both natural and studio lighting in my photography. And most importantly, I feel I have the knowledge base to be able to experiment with lighting in any situation.
I am both grateful and inspired by these two amazing teachers sharing their technical knowledge and a personal piece of themselves. It is clear that they genuinely care about making their students better photographers. Thank you, Sue and Felix!!!

a Creativelive Student

This is such an amazing course. Felix and Sue are so generous with their expertise. I am coming away from this course with a wealth of knowledge and skills in not only natural and studio lighting, but also posing and editing. The Lighting Challenge Guides are beautifully composed and offer an excellent visual reminder to all the lighting setups they took us through. Wow! Can't wait to begin implementing everything I have learned in this valuable course. Thank you CreativeLive.

Dana Niemeier

I have followed Sue ever since she was first on CreativeLive and was very excited to see how natural light from studio strobes was replicated. I liked how Felix was a &quot;try it and adjust&quot; kind of guy with just the right amount of techie as to not cause me to glaze over at the mention of lighting ratios! Also, I appreciated the honesty of how to DIY it and why that may not work for commercial photographers as appearance of equipment in certain situations is important. In the photography world of Sharp and contrast, it was refreshing-once again- to see Sue's beautiful soft images of women and shadowed masculine images of men. Bravo, another great CreativeLive class. I owe my growing business to you!